Frankfurt, Germany recently hosted the International Exhibition on Organic and Printed Electronics (LOPE-C). The new technologies and products on display highlight the fact that organic and printed electronics are no longer marginal, but are on the way to the mass market. road. For example, in the area of ​​housing, printed electronics may play an important role. Organic light-emitting diodes are a new type of light source. Apply a thin layer of plastic to plastic or glass, and in the future it can be used as a panel or illuminating tile for office or residential lighting on walls, ceilings, room dividers or windows. As printed electronics are approaching the mass market and the market size is unpredictable, this year's exhibitors reached 1,150, an increase of 35% over 2010. Today, organic and printed electronics have begun to enter the field of electronic devices for mobile data devices in the form of their simple touch control. To this end, an organic film is printed on the touch sensor, which is coated with an almost invisible metal grid attached to the electronic product. Printed displays and touch sensors will soon show versatility in automotive interiors, and ultra-thin OLED taillights can be attached to the body. In the future, solar cells and “smart” textiles are based on a flexible substrate made up of polymer films that can be used in automotive interiors to help drivers interact with the traffic environment. According to the Organic and Printed Electronics Association (OE-A), since 2015, printed electronics can be made into a user interface with displays and switches, and the user interface appears in the driver's line of sight only when needed. You can activate it.
To this end, German research departments and some companies are working hard to produce such compact, energy-efficient and low-cost electronic products. For example, Germany's 3D-Micromark has made remarkable developments in the field of surface coating. The company, established in 2002, developed a Micro-Flex laser micromachining system for ablating a thin coating onto a flexible substrate. The system processes from roll to roll, which can significantly reduce processing costs. According to Professor Bowman, who is involved in the development work, “This is a digital processing system based on printing methods.” According to the introduction, the system is equipped with an unwinding and rewinding unit, which can be equipped with inkjet printing, silk screen printing, Flexo and gravure units and slot die coatings (spraying materials with a nozzle system). In the future, more substrate strips can be run through the machine.